Beatty's Story
by Chinese Fu
Summary: The man isn't as evil as he seems, he's just tired and alone.


Beatty watched Montag as he burned his house down, loathing every moment. The crimson flames danced across the countless books Montag had tried to hide, reminding him of a time long ago when he cherished the titles that were now smoldering in the cool autumn night. He closed his eyes, like he did at every call, and thought back to the times when he was truly happy, and what had happened to end them.

Every night as a child, his mother sat beside his bed and pointed at the countless shelves he had on his wall. These shelves were filled with books, all with golden trimmed covers and print fading from the many years of use. His mother's hands danced sign language in the air, for she was mute and could not speak. "Which one do you want to read tonight?" He smiled at her, and ran to pick up _Peter Pan_, his favorite. He ran back to the bed and his mother smiled as her delicate fingers danced once more. "This one again? You've read it to me countless times." He only smiled and began to read.

As Beatty grew older, his desire for books only grew stronger. Even as a teenager, he would wait for his mother to come to his bedside so he could read to her the new treasure he had found that day. But on one night, he had waited and waited, ten o' clock, eleven o' clock, twelve o' clock, but his mother still hadn't come in. There was a knock on the downstairs door. He ran down to answer it, figuring that his mother had to work late and she had forgotten her key. When he turned the knob and opened the door, expecting to see his mother, but found only a large man in an officer's attire. "Is this the Beatty residence?" Beatty was shocked and nodded his head. "Are you Elizabeth Beatty's son?" He responded slowly, "Yes, sir." The large man heaved a heavy sigh. "May I come in? I need to inform you of a very unfortunate event." Beatty stepped out of the way and let him in.

After his mother's funeral, Beatty was broken inside. His desire for books dwindled away, as every book reminded him of his mother. He stayed away from the libraries. The librarians saw him out and about, expressing their concern about him, apologizing for his loss and asking if he'll return to the library again. His responses were limited, and they were satisfied with his answers, so they didn't bother him, fearing that he would get annoyed. Because of his distant approach, people soon forgot his first name, and only started calling him by his last name.

One day, a beautiful girl with ebony hair and emerald eyes, MaryLou, walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Beatty?" He turned and looked up at her. "Do you want to work on this project with me?" He only nodded. "Meet me at the library at 3:30, ok?" Before he could respond, she walked back to her desk. While MaryLou waited inside the library, Beatty stood outside gathering himself. After a while, he walked into the library, and the smell of books captured him. Those few hours in the library with her subdued his grief and brought back his love for books. He was actually happy again.

Years later, he brought MaryLou to the library as he normally did, but there was a different mood in the library that night. He handed her a book, she opened it to find a folded paper wedged between the pages. She opened the paper and read the note: _The search begins! __Her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light_.She read it and headed off into the rows of books, directly toward _Romeo and Juliet. _She opened the book to find another note: _If all else perished and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty strange: I should not seem a part of it_. She darted over to _Wuthering Heights_, only to find another note: _You will be so beautiful that the first boy who sees you will want to marry you._ She was getting tired from all of the running around when she found _Like Water for Chocolate. _She sat down in a chair and opened the book. With a gleam in her eye, she found another note: _A new chapter in a book is like a new chapter in a play_. Before she stood up to find it, he handed her _Jane Eyre_. There was an object wedged in it, not letting the book close. When she opened the book, she gasped at the twinkling diamond ring tucked inside.

After he read his two children a book and they were asleep, he and his beloved wife swung gently on the swing on their porch, reading to each other from the dog-eared, broken-spined, paperback _Jane Eyre _they had bought from the library many years ago. He loved the soft, silky feel of the pages beneath his and his wife's fingers. He cherished the harmony of her reading voice, melting his heart with every word. Her voice became mumbles and was soon replaced by gentle snores. He fell asleep with her in his arms in the cool summer night.

He was awakened by the brightening winter dawn that beamed through his window and yawned, awakening MaryLou. "Time for me to go to work." Beatty mumbled. MaryLou rose from the bed went downstairs and started to cook breakfast as Beatty got himself ready for another day of work. After he was ready, he ate breakfast with the family, kissed his wife goodbye, and walked out the door for another day at work. While he was at his job, Mr. Ramos, his boss, came in and said in a grave tone "Beatty, we need to talk. I have some very bad news." Beatty looked up, puzzled. "Sir, am I getting fired?" Mr. Ramos shook his head sadly. "Beatty, your house is gone." He looked at him, astounded. "What? Is my family ok?" He looked at Beatty with such pity and sorrow and said three words that would shatter his heart forever. "No one survived." Beatty slumped into his chair and started to cry. He continued, "I'm going to give you the week off. You can leave now, if you need to." Beatty bolted out of the door and ran to where his house once stood. He walked up to the firefighters that lingered there, and asked "Do you know what happened?" The lead firefighter turned to face Beatty and replied "Sir, there were some books too close to the heating system. They caught on fire, and well, you know the rest…" Beatty walked away from the ashes of his life to the city to start anew.

Beatty, sitting on his couch, watched television if he wasn't sleeping. He started seeing advertisements about the new breed of firemen, burning books to make life simple. They needed more people to be firemen. He started talking to himself. "The books killed your family, Beatty! They need to be avenged! This is your chance! Kill the books, Beatty! Kill the ones that killed your family!" He stood up and walked to the nearest fire station and signed up.

Beatty opened his eyes. He wanted to be with his family, right then, right there. He thought "I want to be with my family. I can't be without them anymore. I want to be happy again." He devised a plan to die. He settled upon Montag, whom he had angered and put a flamethrower in his hands. "Perfect." he whispered as Montag walked toward him, after he was done burning the house down.


End file.
